Blogs

TAGS:
how to paint
+
Acrylic Painting

A painting brush isn't animate. It isn't going to teach me how to paint or go about painting art when no one is looking. It needs the hand of the artist to do its job. Penitent Mary Magdalene by Titian, 1560s, oil on canvas. But one thing a brush—by its very nature—is made for is...

Topics and ideas that tend to strike a chord and spark debate are often that way because they are so subjective. In art, color is definitely one of those sensitive subjects because no two people see a color in exactly the same way, nor do painters always mix colors identically to create similar end results...

Abstraction is a key part of how you paint or draw anything. It is seeing completely with the eye, and not allowing the brain to contextualize what we are seeing. But turning off the brain is no small task! I've found that painting with acrylics has given me a bit of insight into abstraction for...

The final watercolor painting from Courageous Color with Eleanor Lowden Pidgeon . The versatility in watercolors, especially for painting in landscapes, is too great to be ignored, but sometimes can leave us wanting more intensity than transparent colors provide. Enter Eleanor Lowden Pidgeon with a bold...

And what do they all have in common? They are all done with acrylic painting techniques . Peter Drake's Mother W/Out is an unusual but fairly uncomplicated composition that makes the viewer question if the figure is real or a figment. The way the artist has diluted the paint near the back of the...

Whether or not Thomas Woodruff's paintings are to your taste in terms of subject matter is one thing—although who doesn't love maniacal butterflies and tigers prowling through lush, jewel-tone landscapes?—but the artist definitely knows how to put a painting together compositionally...

I was born and raised in the suburbs, with rural farmland and city centers nearby so I have an unbiased appreciation for both. I'm attuned to the natural elements around me and I love to be outdoors, but I also get so energized by the sights and sounds of the cities I visit or live in. And sketching...

Yesterday, I was struck by how many high-quality artists are working today and what valuable advice they offer readers through their teaching. I was especially taken with the landscape artists (I always have my plein air painting eyes peeled for you guys!) I know, including Ben Fenske, Don Demers, Curt...

Hopefully Blake will forgive me for that little rewrite, but when I see a painting that has complicated light effects or diffuse light that seems almost prismatic I can't help but think of that adulterated line of poetry. New York City, Winter 2006, The Storm by Nina Maguire, 2006-2011, acrylic on...

Do you know how frustrating it is to love something, but not necessarily know everything about it? That's sometimes the way I feel about color. I have such a visual lust for color--learning new colors, discovering new paint mixes, figuring out how different light sources effect hue--but I have so...

The color in this work, Wall Street--Arches, Utah , by Carl Dalio calls to mind the scorching heat of a summer day, as opposed to the more delicate hints of color that accompany spring. I’m a color junkie. In fashion, in design, and especially in painting, vibrant color is what gets me creative...

Reading Chair, Sims House by Ronald Lewis, 1996, acrylic, 18 x 14. Courtesy Bryant Galleries, Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Paintings of the sheer peaks of the Alps or serpentine glimmer of the Hudson River showcase the awe-inspiring characteristics of the natural world. But there’s...

Painting in a group means gaining insights from others and solidifying your own point of view. As much as the stereotype of the solitary painter working alone and shutting him- or herself off from the world makes artists seem mysterious and cool, I’ve found that artists tend to be fairly social...

Gustave Caillebotte was a member of the French Impressionists but painted in a much more realist manner than many of his compatriots. I used to think so romantically about Monet, Pissarro, and the other Impressionists. Not romantic like Manet is so dreamy; romantic as in idealizing this particular group...

Shaker Barns by Charles Sheeler, 1945, tempera on board. When I think of the features that make up a truly American landscape, there’s one structure that always sticks out in my mind—a big, broadsided barn. They dot the countryside from coast to coast, sometimes crisply painted and cared...